Family to open new Shockoe Bottom club

RICHMOND, Va. — A local club promoter is making the leap from the alleyway to Shockoe Bottom’s main stroll.

Eric “E.J.” Lewter Jr., who for three years has co-owned and managed The Top night club at 10 Walnut Alley in Shockoe Bottom, has signed a lease to take over the former Vision Ultra Lounge space at 1718 E. Main St.

Lewter Jr., 28, with the help of his parents Eric and Brenda Montague Lewter, plans to transform the two-story building into Montalew’s – a play on his mother’s last name.

The new spot will be the next chapter in Lewter Jr.’s career, after he got his first taste of the club scene when a relative, who owned the former 321 Supper Club, let him throw early evening parties for high school students inside the space on East Main Street.

While his background is in running clubs and promoting parties, Lewter Jr. said Montalew’s won’t be a remake of Visions, which shut down about a year ago.

“When I came up with the concept I wanted it to be a place where people can come, chill, have a couple of drinks, some good food and enjoy a cross-section of good music,” he said. “This is going to be much different than what we’re doing over at The Top.”